bernanke weighing in on the debt ceiling in michigan late yesterday. >> raising the debt ceiling, which congress has to do periodically, gives the government the ability to pay its existing bills. it doesn't create new deficits, it doesn't create new spending. so not raising the debt ceiling is sort of like a family which is trying to improve its credit rating saying, i know how we can save money, we won't pay our credit card bills. not the most effective way to improve your credit rating. >> the metaphors, jim, whether it's a family not paying the credit card bills, the president saying it's like dining and dashing at a restaurant, the only thing is we've got two weeks of respite and then we're off to the races again. >> after the civil war, there was tremendous partisanship in this country. a tumultuous time. the level of bipartisanship. there's such hatred that you can't get in a room. it never seems like obama gets in the room. biden got in the room beforehand. but look, everybody hates each other down there. it's exactly the opposite of what you would expect from a respected nation